NEELTJE JANS, Netherlands - German rider Andre Greipel won a rain-drenched second stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish Sunday, while defending champion Vincenzo Nibali and Tour contender Nairo Quintana lost valuable time after dropping behind the front group.
As the riders approached the finish, Briton Mark Cavendish attacked first but Greipel timed his riposte perfectly to overtake him near the line for his seventh Tour stage win.
Cavendish was caught by Peter Sagan and Swiss veteran Fabian Cancellara, who took the race leader's yellow jersey from overnight leader Rohan Dennis.
The course, which took the riders along the Dutch coastline toward the heart of the Zeeland Delta, proved treacherous as heavy winds and driving rain caused splits throughout the field.
While it was a bad day for Nibali, Quintana and Frenchman Thibaut Pinot - an outsider for the Tour win - things went well for Chris Froome, the 2013 Tour champion, and two-time winner Alberto Contador.
They managed to get in the front group along with Greipel, Cavendish and the other sprinters. Froome finished seventh, and gained four seconds on Contador, who crossed the line in 13th.
Nibali, Quintana and Frenchman Thibaut Pinot all rolled in 1 minute, 28 seconds behind Greipel. That deficit could hurt them when the race hits the mountains later on.
Sunday's 103-mile trek started out from the Dutch city of Utrecht, where Dennis had won Saturday's individual time trial in a record average time.
As visibility worsened, the wind became stronger and the rain lashed down, crashes were going to be inevitable.
Wilco Kelderman, Geraint Thomas - Froome's Team Sky teammate - and Thomas De Gendt all fell following an intermediate sprint as the stage passed through the Dutch city of Rotterdam. They got back on their bikes to continue.
Three breakaway riders: Dutchman Stef Clement, Jan Barta of Germany and Frenchman Armindo Fonseca - forged ahead in front, but they were caught with a little more than 37 miles to go. Then, Australian rider Adam Hansen fell off his bike, got back on clutching his right shoulder and with his legs caked in dirt.
Shortly after, Nacer Bouhanni - barely recovered from a heavy crash at the French championships last weekend - was one of several involved in a spill at the back of the front group that Nibali narrowly avoided.
It was his only bit of luck on an otherwise wretched day for the Italian riders.
With side winds causing havoc, the peloton was split apart with 31 miles to go, as 26 riders including Froome and Contador, formed a front group while Nibali, Pinot and Dennis were dropped.
Quintana was huddled into a third group even further behind, but the Colombian managed to catch up with Nibali and the yellow jersey group, which had now drifted about a minute behind Froome, Contador and the front-runners.
With 15.5 miles left, Nibali's day got even more difficult.
He pulled up on the side of the road with a puncture to his front right tire and, with no teammates around him, had to catch up to the yellow jersey group by riding several kilometers on his own.
The stage finish in the heart of the Zeeland Delta offered a wild and spectacular backdrop.
Riders rode over a pier with waves crashing beneath them, and then snaked through treacherously narrow streets packed with crowds. Earlier, those brave fans had been protecting themselves any way they could as the rain came bucketing down, but by the time the riders arrived the sun pierced through the dark clouds overhead.
The Tour swings into nearby Belgium today for stage three.